Google to Save Antitrust Doodle for Another Day

Google is not doing anything wrong-wrong, the Federal Trade Commission concluded today following an 18-month investigation. While the search engine “sometimes favors its own products when producing search results with its ubiquitous search engine, its actions were ‘not undertaken without legitimate justification,’” The New York Timesreports. In other words: no antitrust here! This is not particularly surprising, as the F.T.C. “faced an uphill battle in proving malicious intent—that Google changes its search algorithm to purposely harm competitors and favor itself.”

It’s true! Google “google + malicious intent” and the first result is a novel called Malicious Intent. What happens if you use Bing to search for “google + malicious intent”? A different book called Malicious Intent, this one by a different author. Google’s Malicious Intent is “[a] gripping and powerful new thriller—the debut of a stunning new voice in suspense fiction—and the first appearance of a tough and remarkable investigator, pathologist, and forensic physician, Dr. Anya Crichton.” Bing’s Malicious Intent has the following plot: “Hardworking New Orleans environmental lawyer Rebecca Boudreaux’s life just got substantially more complicated and dangerous because of the new case that her public interest law firm plans to file on behalf of citizens living in the Cancer Alley area of Louisiana.” Oh my God, “Cancer Alley”? No. Google for life!